


Single Riders

by MissMarvel (cas2y5)



Category: Bucky Barnes - Fandom, Captain America, Marvel, Steve Rogers - Fandom, Stucky - Fandom, fluff - Fandom
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-06
Updated: 2016-06-06
Packaged: 2018-07-12 17:52:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7116559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cas2y5/pseuds/MissMarvel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve ends up taking Clint's kids to the fair. He meets an interesting stranger...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Single Riders

The August sun beat down on Steve’s back, sweat running down his face. All around him was the sound of cheesy carnival games and the mechanical whirring of the rides.

 

 _“A fair of all places,”_ Steve thought, grimacing as he peered around at the other sweaty fairgoers.

 

\--They Day Before--

“Steve, I have a favor to ask of you,” Clint said, his tone urgent and important.

 

“What is it?” Steve asked, eager to help out a good friend.

 

“Would you take Cooper and Lila to the county fair on Saturday?” Clint asked.

 

Steve laughed. “Are you serious?” he asked.

 

“Very,” Clint said, his voice lacking any joking tone. “Laura has a doctor’s appointment, and you know what happens when kids get bored.”

 

“Why me?” Steve asked.

 

“Because you’re the most responsible,” Clint said.

 

“Your kids haven’t even met me. I’m a total stranger to them,” Steve said. It’s not that Steve didn’t like kids, it was just that he was, well, inexperienced.

 

Clint looked at him incredulously. “You’re Captain America,” he said. “They know more about you than you know about you.”

 

“But-”

 

“Thanks Rogers, gotta go!” Clint said as he hurried off down the hall.

 

\---

 

Like any kids at the fair, Cooper and Lila wanted to ride _all_ the fair rides, no matter how long the line. They were currently standing in line for something called the Zipper, which looked like the worst of the vomit inducing machines here. The thing about the Zipper, though, was that you _had_ to have two riders, no exceptions. So Lila and Cooper were impatiently waiting in the regular line while Steve was stuck in the single riders line.

 

 _“Looks like I’m up next,”_ Steve said, approaching the gate. _“I wonder who I’ll be riding with.”_ He glanced back to see a man with long, shaggy hair looking at the small car -no, _cage_ \- in utter horror.

 

“Next,” the carney called. Steve stepped in without hesitation, sliding over to the far side to make room for the stranger. The stranger was pale white as he slowly sat down, keeping his eyes locked forward.

 

“Good luck Uncle Steve!” he heard Lila and Cooper yell. He gave them a smile and a small wave.

 

“Have fun Bucky!” he heard a different voice say. The stranger next to him, Bucky, just shot a horribly fake smile to whoever called his name.

 

“Thanks a lot, sis,” Bucky said sarcastically.

 

“First time riding this thing?” Steve asked as the carney closed the cage door.

 

“I wish,” Bucky said. He glanced over at Steve. “You?”

 

“Yeah,” Steve said with a smile.

 

“You have no idea what you just got yourself into,” Bucky said.

 

“It can’t be that bad,” Steve said. The ride started up and their small cage began doing circles, which wouldn’t be so bad except that _the whole entire ride was also rotating_. “I take it back!” he yelled over the roar of the ride.

 

Bucky started laughing, his entire body relaxing. “What’s the matter, can’t handle a few spins?” he said. The ride abruptly stopped.

 

“That was actually...kind of fun,” Steve said, a smile decorating his face and laughter spilling from his lips. “But is that really it?”

 

Bucky tensed up again. “No,” he said, “it’s usually way longer than this.”

 

From down below, they heard the carney tell the crowd, “The ride broke down, and we don’t know when it’ll be back up.”

 

“Shit,” Bucky said under his breath. “Shit shit shit.”

 

“Scared of heights?” Steve asked, not teasingly but rather with genuine curiosity.

 

“Not the heights,” Bucky said, taking a deep breath. “The cage. It’s just so goddamn small!” Panic was beginning to rise in Bucky’s tone.

 

“Hey,” Steve said. “Hey look at me.” Bucky looked up. “Talk to me. Tell me something about yourself.” Steve’s tone was calm and even.

 

“My name’s James Barnes, but everyone calls me Bucky,” Bucky said.

 

“It’s nice to meet you Bucky. Where are you from?” Steve asked, attempting to distract Bucky from their close quarters.

 

“B-Brooklyn,” Bucky stuttered.

 

“Me too,” Steve said.

 

“Really?” Bucky asked, taking another deep breath.

 

“Born and raised,” Steve said. “What about your job? What do you do?”

 

“I’m a veteran, served in Afghanistan,” Bucky said. “Cost me an arm.”

 

“You lost an arm?” Steve asked.

 

Bucky nodded. His muscles seemed to relax. “Yeah. My little brother insisted that I get this ‘cool metal one’,” he said, rolling up his sleeve to reveal a sleek metal prosthetic.

 

“How are you not sweltering in this heat with that sweater on?” Steve asked. He hadn’t really looked at Bucky before this, but now that he did, Bucky was a pretty handsome guy. His face was soft with a strong jawline, and his eyes were a gentle blue. He was built pretty decently, too. Bucky’s muscles were _very_ visible through the shirt.

 

“I am. It’s hot as balls out here,” Bucky said. “But if I wore anything else, people would stare,” Bucky looked down uncomfortably.

 

“I get it,” Steve said. “People would be thanking you for your service, all with that same look of pity in their eyes, when all you want is just to feel normal again.”

 

“You served?” Bucky asked.

 

“Yeah, a while ago,” Steve said.

 

“How long?” Bucky asked. “You can’t be older than like thirty.”

 

“Actually, I’m ninety-five,” Steve said, smiling mischievously.

 

Bucky chuckled. “Sure you are,” he said. “What exactly brought you here?” Bucky asked, his eyes now light and his body completely relaxed.

 

“A friend of mine asked me to watch his kids for the day,” Steve said.

 

“Rotten luck,” Bucky said.

 

“It’s not so bad,” Steve said. He nudged Bucky. “Besides, I could say the same for you.”

 

“Yeah, nothing says ‘free babysitter’ like ‘eldest child’,” Bucky said. “Don’t get me wrong, I love my family, but there’s about a hundred better things I could think of to be doing with my Saturday.”

 

“Yeah,” Steve said. “But I’m glad you’re not doing those things.”

 

“Well that’s a little rude,” Bucky said.

 

“No, I didn’t- I just,” Steve looked at Bucky and smiled gently, “If you weren’t here, we wouldn’t have met.”

 

Bucky’s face turned crimson, and it wasn’t because of the heat. He looked away coyly. “So, one of those things I could be doing on a Saturday could be dinner.” He swallowed hard, grasping for any shred of confidence. “So how about we make that next Saturday’s plan?”

 

This time, it was Steve’s turn to blush. A smile crept onto his face. “I’d like that.”

 

The ride suddenly jolted, throwing Steve’s head into the metal cage. Blood blossomed from the small cut. “Oh my god are you okay?” Bucky asked as the ride gently started moving back into its original position.

 

Steve wiped the blood away, and the cut was no longer there. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

 

Bucky stared in shock. “Wait, where did the cut go? You literally just gashed your head open.”

 

The two exited their cage and stepped onto the loading platform. Steve held the small gate open for Bucky as they left the ride area. The lines were gone and the other gate had a large ‘CLOSED’ sign hung on it. Somewhere, a motor revved.

 

“You mean you don’t know?” Steve asked, a cocky smile on his face.

 

“Know what?” Bucky asked. The faint motor sound was now not so faint, and about five feet away, a very expensive looking car came to a screeching halt. Dust and smoke slowly wafted from the car tires. On the hood, a large “A” was painted.

 

“I’m Captain America,” Steve said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “So we’re still on for next Saturday, right?” Bucky nodded wordlessly. “Great, I’ll text you later.”

 

“But you don’t even have my number,” Bucky heard himself say. He was having a minor out of body experience at the moment.

 

Steve winked. “I’ll get it,” he said, jogging off toward the car where Lila and Cooper were waiting.

 

The car peeled out, leaving nothing but a dust cloud in its wake. Bucky fell to his knees in disbelief. “Did I just...ask _Captain goddamn America_ ...on a _date_?!”

 


End file.
